JMB Racing Le Mans 24H Race Report

Circuit de la Sarthe

JMB Racing barely misses the podium in the LM GTE‐AM

Invited by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) to participate in the
79th edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, JMB Racing entered a Ferrari
430 GT2 in the GTE-AM, driven by a team led by Manuel Rodrigues, member
of the JMB team in 2009, and rounded out by Jean-Marc Menahem and
Nicolas Marroc, both racing on the legendary circuit for the first time.

The week started out at Place des Jacobins with the usual administrative
and technical checks for the 56 participating cars.

Despite the team's meticulous preparations since the test day on 24
April, the first trials on Wednesday were marred by gearbox problems.
The problems were eventually resolved, but given the time lost the day
before, the team dedicated most of the Thursday session to optimising
the car's performance for a 24-hour race instead of trying to ace the
time trials. Under these conditions, Nicolas's fifth place finish was
particularly encouraging.

In front of a record 249,500 spectators, Nicolas took off under sunny
skies for what would be one of the closest races in the history of the
24 Hours of Le Mans. Then it was time for the mechanics to come in to
refuel the car and change the tyres. The drivers followed their strategy
to the letter by remaining consistent on the track and efficient during
pit stops and were able to avoid the traps in a highly eventful race
marked by several dramatic accidents that brought the safety car out
onto the track.

JMB Racing's relays -- including Nicolas's night-time quadruple relay --
went off without a hitch.

Jean-Marc and Nicolas were able to drive a flawless race thanks to the
experience contributed by both the team and Manu, racing for the third
year in a row.

Less than two hours from the finish, the #83 Ferrari had moved up to
third place, six laps ahead of the fourth place car. But unfortunately,
a clutch problem kept the car in the pit for an extended stop. A
makeshift repair brought the car back out onto the track as rain began
to fall intermittently, complicating the drivers' task even more as they
found themselves so close yet so far from the finish line.

Thanks to a final effort, the #83 Ferrari passed the chequered flag in
fourth place in its category, a symbolic reward for all of the team's
hard work.

Just like Manu in 2009, Nicolas and Jean-Marc had the satisfaction of
joining the club of drivers who completed the Le Mans race in their
first appearance -- no small feat given the 50% DNF rate in this
particularly thrilling 2011 race.